Unitas is improving sales and availability for partnered convenience stores by combining warehouse space and sales data across its membership.
The firm uses the collective buying power of its 134 wholesalers to negotiate better pricing on products for retailers. Its members include convenience wholesalers such as Dhamecha, Dee Bee, Blakemore, Chetan, Filshill and United Wholesale Scotland.
Unitas chief operating officer David Cooke told our sister website Better Retailing one of the firm’s targets for 2026 is looking at how it can use its collective network to improve deliveries into small shops.
He added: “The mission is to show the supply base what the underutilised resource looks like and how we can get their brands into our depots and partnered convenience stores. We’ve got so many depots across a membership of 134 wholesalers.
“The different lens I want to take is to think of the end consumer, who is buying chocolate or grocery as part of their weekly shop. People are trading down into different categories and volume purchases are changing. We can’t just look at sales figures.
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“Delivered serves 40% of our business, so we’re looking at how we can take product from suppliers to the end consumer more efficiently. Can we consolidate deliveries between members to make it more efficient? For example, we have Dhamecha, which is absolutely massive. We have a model that can’t be emulated, and we’ve got to have a shared and long-term purpose.”
Cooke added that Unitas is working more closely with suppliers to help spot products or categories where retailers might be under-trading.
He explained: “This shows the value of a centralised model and we should be analysing data to answer the needs of our customers. We can use this to make ranging recommendations, drive sales and understand where we’re under-trading with our competitors.
“For example, we had a recent meeting with Nestlé around this. You can start to build a centralised and coherent category management strategy.”
Unitas is also continuing to develop its Local Living own-label range. He said: “It’s around protecting profitability and we’ll be partnering with different service providers.
“There’s still big potential in own brand and the Local Living range is truly the reason to come to our depots and stores. It gives us a unique identity and you can’t buy these products anywhere else. We’re also meeting the needs of customers from a value perspective.”
